Saturday, January 18, 2014

Different Music Styles

Hey, there! This post will be kind of an introduction to Art History. I think the best way to do it, is by analyzing pieces of art that we already know so we can get used to see art in a criticizing way, appreciating both good and bad aspects:What is it?,What is it about?What is its meaning?,What is it for?When, where, why and by who was it made? I will begin by analyzing five different songs with different styles. I hope you enjoy!

I've Got the World on a String - Frank Sinatra

I think we all know about Frank Sinatra's style. Fast rhythm and soft music, easy listening music. He used to sing jazz, swing, and pop. In this song, "I´ve got the world on a string", the main instrument is the sax and Frank's voice takes most of the credit. The lyrics are happy and as usually on Sinatra's style, talk about the feeling of being in love. "Lucky me, can't you see I'm in love?" He says he has the world on a string...It´s like he feels he can do anything by the power of the love that is now in possession of him. Music doesn't sound too hard to play, but I have never played sax, so don't trust me very much on that point. I think this song was meant to be quiet listened and for slow dancing. "I've Got the World on a String" was composed in 1932 by Harold Arlen, and the lyrics were written by Ted Koehler. It's been recorded multiple times by many different singers, and Frank Sinatra is one of them. His version came out in 1953. Other artists that have recorded the song are Céline Dion, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Bublé, and Jennifer López. Frank's version reached #14 on Billboard's most played list of the year it came out!

Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division

Joy Divison is a Post-Punk British band formed in 1976. At first, the band had punk-rock influences, but later, they evolved to a post-punk style. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is kind of a fast song with a bit loud music. The main instruments are the piano, the bass and the guitar (which is played by the vocalist). The voice is deep and follows the same rhythm as the music. The music sounds kind of hard to play, and you can trust me: the guitar isn't easy at all! I think this song was made for concerts, I really can't imagine someone dancing to its rhythm in a party. The intention of the song was to mock the trending phrase "Love will keep us together," and the lyrics reflect the problems in the marriage of the vocalist Ian Curtis with Deborah Curtis. After Ian died, she even wrote the phrase "Love will tear us apart" on his memorial stone! The song was written in August 1979, months before Ian Curtis committed suicide in May 1980. The song was first released in June 1980, then again in 1983. It was a hit until 1988, when it made its last apparition on New Zealand's Top 40 with the 39th position.

Wave - Gal Costa

This song is an example of bossa nova. Bossa nova is a brazilian musical style developed in the 50´s and 60´s in Brasil, and it´s a fusion of samba and jazz. The typical instruments of bossa nova are guitar, piano, organ, bass and drums. I'll be honest. I HATE bossa nova's rhythm. I have done it since my dad bought a whole disc of Michael Jackson's songs in Bossa Nova. I really like those songs, but the slow rhythm of Bossa Nova made my ears hurt. I felt as if they were ruining the songs. Still, this Gal Costa's song is not so bad. Maybe it is because there's no original version I like, but in this case, the slow rhythm and soft voice were able to calm me a little bit. I don't know portuguese, so I can't tell you a lot about the lyrics. The main instruments I can get are the piano, guitar and other various string instruments, as well as some percussion instruments. I think the song is meant for dancing and quiet listening. It is said that Gal's mom used to listen to classical music while pregnant, which developed a taste for music in Gal. Later on, she was able to meet some composers and singers, and she debuted as a singer in 1964. This song was released until 1999 with the album "Gal Costa Canta Tom Jobim ao Vivo".

Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Men With Banjos Who Know How To Use Them

"Men With Banjos Who Know How To Use Them"... This says a lot about the song itself. Foggy Mountain Breakdown is an american bluegrass or country song, with fast rhythm and no voice. It was sritten by Earl Scruggs in 1949. I can't really tell if it's loud or soft, I feel as if it keeps changing throughout the song. The instruments here are (obviously) banjos and a piano. I'm not sure I have to say it, but playing this song is hard as hell... these guys really know how to use the banjos. Some musicians consider this song is one of the fastest and most rhytmically challenging song to play. When I hear this song, I always imagine some cowboys dancing around while laughing.This song was used in the famous american movie "Bonnie and Clide"(1967) and some other films.This was one of the first of Foggy Mountain Boys' singles, released in 1949. When it was first released it was number 9 on the US Country peak chart position! The Foggy Mountain Boys were some of the first American bluegrass/country groups ever! In 2002, Earl Scruggs won a Grammy for recording Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

Piano and String Quartet - Morton Feldman

The perfect description for this song is: "Intriguing". Just listen to it and its tones... It's a song made specially for a horror or suspense movie. It's pretty slow and soft, so much that it sounds loud in my mind. The combination of high and low tones at the same time almost makes my head explode. No voice, only five instruments (a piano and a string quartet, obviously)... it doesn't sound so hard to play, but I'm sure that the silence laps aren't easy to get. It is the combination of silence and music what makes this song special. I'd say it's meant for quiet listening, but I'm not sure someone would sit tight listening to this song in the middle of the night while hearing strange noises... Morton Feldman is himself a scary guy who likes to compose long songs with isolated sounds and weird combinations of instruments. You can not predict what might happen next. The patterns he uses in his songs are never what we expect them to be. His music is almost always intimate, quiet, slow...This song is one of his lasts works and was released in 1993, when contemporary classical was a popular genre. The song includes three violins, a cello and a piano, played by David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt, Joan Jeanrenaud, and Aki Takahashi (respectively).